5 Sensational Phrases From Kenzaburo Oé

Many of Kenzaburo Oé’s phrases are a reflection of his personal tragedies and the terrible social events that he has witnessed. He is one of the most vital and profound writers of the 20th century. Also one of the most read in the world.

Kenzaburo Oé was born in a small village in Japan. He came from a very humble family. His desire to progress led him to live in Tokyo, where he graduated in Philosophy and Letters. However, he suffered a culture shock, as his home village was very different from the big city he encountered. This led him to develop his first writings.

Most of Kenzaburo Oé’s sentences are short and direct. It has a humanistic essence, with existentialist overtones . His style is agile and forceful, rich in poetic images and deep reflections. These are some of his best known claims.

1. One of Kenzaburo Oé’s phrases about fear

Fear appears several times in Kenzaburo Oé’s phrases, either explicitly or implicitly. However, his thing is not to succumb to fear, but to reason it. This wonderful writer, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994, also believes in the ability of the human being to free himself from himself.

One of those phrases by Kenzaburo Oé that reflects this spirit says: “ To master fear , you have to isolate it. And for this you have to define its object with precision ”. Great advice. Specifying what the object of fear is is one way to begin to overcome it.

2. Two facets of the world

One of Kenzaburo Oé’s phrases says: “ When I want to look at our world with both eyes, what I perceive are two superimposed worlds : one bright and clear, surprisingly clear; the other imprecise and subtly gloomy ”.

This text reflects that ambiguity of existence, which is also the ambiguity of the human being. The duality that inhabits us: the good and the bad, the bright and the dark, the great and the miserable. .. We constantly face this paradox, throughout life.

3. The good writer

Kenzaburo Oé has also reflected on many occasions on the profession of writing itself. Beyond a vocation, writing is also a position in front of existence. At the same time it constitutes a testimony, a therapy and a cultural exercise.

In this regard, he points out: ” A good writer should never stabilize. ” It refers to the fact that one of the engines that leads to writing is precisely instability. If not, there would be basically no reason to imagine other possible worlds through literature.

4. In ghost of the atomic bomb

One of the events that most impacted Kenzaburo Oé was the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not only because of the devastation that it caused, but also because of the impressive number of consequences, physical and psychological, that it left on the Japanese.

There are many phrases by Kenzaburo Oé dedicated to this topic. One of them notes: ” The important lesson of the Hiroshima drama is dignity. ” It refers to the unwavering will of his people to rebuild the nation, after that terrible event. The Japanese managed to dimension the historical moment, first with the surrender and then with the reconstruction.

5. The act of lying

Kenzaburo Oé’s goal is not to moralize through his literature. It does not try to give moral lessons, nor does it pretend to postulate role models. However, ethical questioning is at the base of all his novels and essays. More as a question, than as an explicit statement or dogma.

One of his phrases says: ” If you lie to get out of a hurry, you should do it in such a way that you do not need to lie again when the truth is known. ” As can be seen, it does not intend to condemn the lie, but rather to point out its inconvenience. It takes for granted that the truth comes to light and that, therefore, that fact must be taken into account when issuing a falsehood.

In addition to the atomic bomb, what has most distressed Kenzaburo Oé is the fact that he had a son with an intellectual disability. This gave a total turn to his life and also to his literature. Perhaps that is why when reading it, one has the impression of being in front of someone who, surely, has dreamed of deciphering the meaning of the impossible.